Van Horebeek, Febvre and Tonus head to Germany!

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jeremy Van Horebeek and Romain Febvre will be taking fond memories into the MXGP of Germany, round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship that will take place at the historic circuit of Teutschenthal this weekend, May 20th and 21st.

The first ever round of the FIM Motocross World Championship that took place at the old school venue was back in 1971. It has since held 21 rounds, and on top of that, the 2013 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, an event that sits solid in the heart of Jeremy Van Horebeek as a member of the winning team – Team Belgium – on that epic weekend. Van Horebeek currently sits sixth in this seasons’ championship chase, 6 points shy of fellow Belgian, Clement Desalle, in fifth.

In 2015, Romain Febvre was lightening quick around the classic circuit and wrapped up his third ever grand prix win in the premier class – MXGP – with a 1-2 finish. The Frenchman is still looking for his first podium finish in 2017, and has been working hard with the team to find that winning set-up on his YZ450FM. He is currently eighth in the overall standings, 27 points short of the most recent grand prix winner, Jeffrey Herlings, in seventh.

Wilvo Yamaha Official MXGP’s Arnaud Tonus took some much needed rest and recovery after a heavy fall at the MXGP of Latvia less than two weeks ago. The stylish Swiss rider tested his physical condition at the world renowned Lommel circuit last weekend where he noticed that his thumb was quite painful, but believes he will be fit and ready to go bar-to-bar for valuable MXGP championship points this weekend. He currently rounds out the top ten, and needs 6 points on Max Nagl to move up into ninth.

Unfortunately, there will only be one Wilvo Yamaha YZ450F on the line this weekend with Shaun Simpson sidelined for four weeks due to a broken hand, which still contains the external stitches. The stitches are healing the point of incision where the Scot had his third metacarpal, on his left hand, plated and screwed. This will be the first time in 9 years that Shaun has missed the grand prix in Teutschenthal, but he is not dwelling, instead he has already set his focus on being fit for a return at the MXGP of Lombardia which will take place in Italy, at Ottobiano, on the weekend of June 25th.

Teutschenthal is located in the east of Germany, 162km South West of the country’s capital Berlin, and only 134km North West of the border for the Czech Rebulic. The ‘Talkessel’ circuit, has a rich history and is a track that embodies plenty of elevation and skittish clay ruts and bumps. It is relatively stony and has an awkward consistency in terms of compound. The first race of the weekend will be the Qualifying Heat that will take place on Saturday May 20th at 17:10 Central European Time (BST+1).

Jeremy Van Horebeek
“We’ve put in some solid training sessions this last week. I feel ready to race in Teutschenthal. I have been on the podium there before so I know I can ride pretty good there. Everything is working really well with the team, and with my bike, we have a really good vibe and I’m feeling really positive for this weekend.”

Romain Febvre
“Last week we made a lot of changes to the bike, and I feel like it’s working. We went to the Dutch championship last weekend to test the new settings in a race situation and they worked really well, I am happy with it and I am looking forward to going to Teutschenthal this weekend. I like the track.”